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Arsenal now face £99m release clause if they wish to sign top summer target

Arsenal were reportedly linked with a move for Inter striker Mauro Icardi this past summer, but his agent has now revealed the eye-watering release fee included in his new deal.

As noted by The Sun back in August, it was claimed that Arsene Wenger was making a genuine transfer assault on the Nerazzurri as he attempted to sign their influential forward.

However, Icardi ultimately stayed in Italy and has started the season in good form for Frank De Boer’s men with six goals in seven Serie A appearances thus far.

Should Arsenal still have a desire to add the Argentine striker to their squad, they will have to dig very deep into their pockets with Icardi’s agent and wife, Wanda, revealing that he has a €110m [£99m] release clause included in his new contract with Inter.

“I’ve earned Mauro much more money. We’ve put in clauses and new conditions,” she told Infobae.

“If a club want to buy him, they’ll have to pay the clause of €110m. We adjusted the contract and extended it for five years, which is the maximum possible.”

Arsenal eventually switched their focus to former Deportivo La Coruna forward Lucas Perez in their bid to bolster their attacking options, but with Alexis Sanchez currently being deployed up front, there could be an argument that Wenger still needs to address that area of his squad.

Nevertheless, as they sit in third place in the Premier League table and just two points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, they’ll hope that they have enough over the next few months to sustain a title push and put themselves in a strong position heading into the second half of the campaign.

The Gunners have scored 16 goals in seven games so far, the third best tally in the league, and so evidently their supposed attacking problems haven’t caused them an issue as of yet.